Only One Life To Live

I've never been one for blogging and honestly never really went around reading blogs until I decided to join the Peace Corps. Reading other volunteer's blogs have inspired me try, and this may be my only means of communication while in Namibia. Don't judge me to hard, I've never done this before. So this is my attempt at my first post.

If someone asked me 2 years ago where I would be today, the last thing I would have ever thought to say would be getting ready to spent 27 months in Namibia working as an Education Volunteer in the Secondary and Upper Primary Project for the Peace Corps.  On July 24, 2013, I will be doing just that. It took a year to go through the application process and now I am at my final steps awaiting my medical clearance. I have been asked a lot of questions since I told my friends and family about joining the Peace Corps. The main two I hear the most is "Why?" and "Am I nervous?". Let me first say that, yes, I am nervous... but I am more excited than anything else. I will get to experience a new culture, a new way of looking at life, and hope to help, in someway, the people that I meet. This is an experience that will change my life. I want to help people in any way that I can. If I can make a difference in at least one person's life, then every hardship that happens while over seas will be well worth it.  That is also why I named this blog " A life less ordinary". I know it is probably a common name for a blog, but I believe it fits my life and how I want to live it.

 When I first got my invitation, I'll be honest, I was confused at how I have rarely heard of this country. I immediately started to do research and fell back into my college research paper mode for the numerous history research papers I had to write. I found that Namibia had gained it's independence from South Africa in 1990. Originally called "German South-West Africa," Namibia was a German colony until WWI in the early 1900s when it was taken over by South Africa and renamed "South-West Africa." Under the government of South Africa, Namibia fell victim to apartheid, and remained oppressed until its independence. Today, the effects of apartheid are still strongly felt throughout Namibia.

After 6 months of independence, Namibia asked the Peace Corps to send volunteers to serve in country. Slowly, Namibia has progressed and made improvements in many areas, including education.

I understand that this experience will be challenging for me in many ways. It is a completely new way of life and how to look at things. But I am looking forward to those challenges and growing as a person. I know that this post was more factual then anything else. It was just the History Major in me coming out. I promise, if you stick with me and keep reading, my posts will become much more interesting and less factual. I am not sure how often I will have internet connection, so please bare with me and be patient. I will post as often as I can. I can answer any questions, and I would also appreciate any advice from return or current volunteers.